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Work of Art: Cotton Up

Ah geez, Ryan. You were so gone. You got so much airtime – Jehovah’s Witness, huh – that it was pretty clear you were the one. Same with no-talent guy last week.

And that brings us to the question of the week: What’s the deal with Work of Art‘s editing?

We got a little glimpse of the survivors hanging out on the roof at the beginning of the episode, but there’s no real conversation. We’re told Miles and Nicole are totally flirting with each other, but we don’t really see it. There’s no way we’re going to get a Big Brother-style infrared shot of one contestant crawling into another’s bed. Heck, we haven’t even heard the nonsmokers complaining about the smokers. That’s just not what this show’s about, so I’m not sure why they are even bothering with the "meanwhile, back at the ranch" stuff.

Back at the gallery, celebrity judge Will Cotton got almost no introduction. Dude just collaborated with pop star Katy Perry. Maybe that info wasn’t public at the time, but you figure someone whose work has that much mainstream appeal would’ve gotten a few more seconds of bio. Instead, we got the following exchange between Cotton and critic Jerry Saltz.

COTTON: "This is the unicorn I wanted to make when I was a kid."

SALTZ: "You wanted to make a unicorn?"

COTTON: "Absolutely."

SALTZ: "I thought it was a girl thing."

COTTON: "Not just a girl thing. My mom taught me to draw horses."

SALTZ: "I drew trolls."

I watched this exchange a couple times, and I’m not sure how playful it was, but just to be safe, here’s an elegantly crafted image of Saltz’s head on a Cotton beauty.

I’m still thinking Peregrine is going to take it all, but Nicole might be my second guess. Miles is out soon. Or at least that’s what the editors want us to believe.